Cut-off regulator



(NoModel.)

E. P. WILLIAMS..

. GUT-OPP REGULATOR. l No. 347,979. Patented Aug. 24, 1886.

Zwin/1' Wwf/langs N. PETERS, PhuwLilhognpmr. washington, D. c.

NIT'SED STATES 'y PATENT vCUT-OFF REGULATOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 347,979, datedAugustv24, 1886.

Application filed Dlicemhcr 17, 1885. Serial No. 186,006. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWIN F. WILLIAMS, a citizen of the United States,residing at Chicago, in the county ofCOok and State of Illinois, haveinvented a certain new and useful Improvement in Automatic Cut-OffRegulators, which is fully set forth in the following specification,reference being had tothe accompanying drawings, in Which'- Figure lrepresents an elevation of a mechanism embodying my invention; and Fig.2, a sectional view of the same, taken on the line x x of Fig. l.

Like letters refer to like parts in all the figures of the drawings.

My invention relates to automatic cutoff governors or regulators vforsteamengines, and Inore particularly to that class in which a governorwheel or disk, or the fly-wheel of the engine, has applied to it, tokrevolve with or be revolved by it, the remaining parts of the governor,its object being to provide a mechanism which shall effectually regulatewith great nicety the speed of the engine.

' I will now proceed to describe a construction in which I havepractically carried out my invention in one form, and will thenparticularly point out in the claims those features which I deem to benew and desire to protec by Letters Patent.

In the drawings, A represents the governorwheel, and A the crank-shaft,to which the said wheel is keyed or otherwise rigidly attached.

B represents a disk, which I'shall ferm the inertia-disk.77 This disk isInountcd loosely upon the crank-shaft A', or upon the hub of thegovernor-wheel A.

C represents a cut-off eccentric, which is mounted loosely upon thecrank-shaft A. This eccentric is providedwith the lugs c, attached to orformed in one-piece with it,which lugs serve as points of attachments,to which are pivoted the inner ends of links D. The outer ends of theselinks are pivoted to the ends of the weiglIt-arms or governor-arms E.Each governor-arm is provided with meanssuch, for instance, as thatshown-for the attachment of weights E', which may be placed thereon inany desired number, and secured in any suitable manner. Each weight-armis pivoted, by means of a suitable stud or bolt, e, to one of the armsof the governor-wheel A,

and is provided with a short arm, c', tov which is pivoted one end of alink, F, the ther end of which is pivotally connected to a stud orpin,f, attached to theinertia-disk B. Springs G are employed to draw theweight-arms E inward toward thepcentral shaft; A', these springs beingshown in the present instance #as connected at one end to the studsf,and at the other end to the weight-arms, either in the manner shownl orin any other suitable manner.

II indicates a stop, consisting of a lug attached to the governor-wheelA, and cxtending into a'slot, h, in the inertia-disk B, the movement ofwhich it limits by contact with the ends of the slotin an obviousmanner.

It Will be seen that sincethc weight-arms E are attached'to thegoverIIor-wheel A, and they are connected to the eccentric by Ineans ofthe links D, and to the incrtiawhecl by means of the links F, aconnection is thus esi tablished between these two latter parts and thegovernor-wheel, which will cause them to revolve with this latter. It isof course understood that the cut-Off eccentric C will be in practiceconnected to the cut-off valve in any approved manner. p

The operation of the device is as folllows: As the governor-wheelrevolves in the direction of the arrow shown in Fig. l, when the speedis sufficient the governor-weights, by `reason of their centrifugalforce,overcome the resistance ofthe springs G,and move outward from thecentral shaft, carrying the eccentric forward around the shaft throughthe medium of the links D, andthereby effecting an eara lier cut off.Upon this movement of the weight-arms and eccentric it is obvious thatthe inertia-disk B must also move around-the shaft, since it isconnected to the short arms e of the weight-arms, by means of the linksF. This movement ofthe inertia-disk is, however, a movement inadirection opposite to that of the eccentric-I'. e., it is a backwardmovement. It will thus be seen that an earlier cut-off is effected bymeans of a backward movement of the inertia-disk, and it follows that alater cut-off will be effected by a forward movement of theinertia-disk. Itis therefore evident that an accelerating movement ofthe engine will have the effect of shortening the cut-off, and aretarding movement will have the effect of lengthening it. Whenever theIno- Ioo tion is uniform, however, there will be no change whatever inthe ent-off.

In all centrifugal governors the governorweights have a certain masswhich requires force to either set it in motion or bring it to rest. Forthis reason these weights cannot respond theinstant that the equilibriumbetween the spring-pressure resistance and the centrifugal force isdistubcd by a change in the speed of the engine, and for this samereason, when once set in motion, they are carried beyond the point Wherethis equilibrium exists, and must therefore have a return motion, which.unsettles the governor and cau/ses racing when adjusted for closeregulation. It is this cause, among others, that renders inadmissibleneness or extreme accuracy of adjustment,4 which would be practicablewere it not for the inertia of' the governor-weights. It is to remedythis defect that I employ the inertia-disk, which is calculated to urgethe weights to immediate action upon any change in the speed of theengine, and to immediately oppose their movement whenever the said speedis either above or below the normal rate of rotation. In order toexplain this action of the disk, let us suppose the engine to be runningat the uniform speed required to establish an equilibrium between theweight and spring forces at any position within the range of thegovernor. If the speed should then suddenly increase, as i` would were alarge portion ofthe load taken oil', the acceleration would give to theweights agreater centrifugal force, which, in the ordinary governor,would require a certain time to overcome theinertia of the weights, andif the actuating force is very small, theweights would move slowly atfirst, allowing the speed of the engine to increase considerably beforethe governor would act tocheck it. Moreover, when the weights were oncein motion, they would, as hereinbefore explained, go beyond the positionat which they should' stop. The inertia-disk acts instantaneousl y withany acceleration of speed to push the weights into their proper positionand to stop them the instant that retardation sets in. The effect of thesaid disk is not to establish the speed at which the engine shall run,but to oppose instantly any change in speed by pushing or pulling thegovernorweights into their proper position, or nearly so, thedill'erence being finally made up by the opposing force of the springsand weights finding their equilibrium. Upon any change in speed the visinertia of the disk. is expended in urging the weights into action, andwhen thisinertia has been spent the movement of the weights is arrestedby the same force, the tendency being to hold the governor-weights -intheir proper position when the speed is right, and to urge them intoimmediate action upon any change of that speed. It will be observed thatby reason of the particular manner of attaching the spring shown in thedrawings and hereinbefore described, these latter will be always keptsubstantially at right angles to theweight-arnis, since as these lattermove inward or outward the pins f on the inertia-disk to which the innerend of the springs are attached will be carried by the movement of thesaid disk into such a position as to always maintain this same relativeposition of the springs to the arms.

It is obvious that various modifications in the details of constructionand arrangement 0f the parts may be made without departing from theprinciple of my invention. For instance, the governor V- wheel may befitted loosely on the shaft andl used as an inertiadisk. In thisconstruction the disk B will be secured to the shaft, and theweight-arms will be pivoted thereto, the studs f being attached tothegovernor-wheel and extending through slots in the disk. The springs Gmay be also differently arranged. v For instance, they may be attachedto the inner edge of the governorwheel and to the extremity of the shortarms e of the weight-arms E. I prefer, however, the construction shownand described, for the reasons already stated. In view of these andother obvious modifications I do not wish to be understood as limitingmyself strictly to the precise details hereinbefore described, and shownin the drawings.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a steam engine governor, the governorwheel and eccentric, incombination with the 4weight-arms connected to the eccentric and theinertia-disk connected to the weight-arms,

' substantially as and for the purposes specified.

2. The combination, with the governorwheel and the Weight-arms pivotedthereon, of the eccentric connected to the weight-arms by suitablelinks, centripetally-acting springs connected to the weight-arms, andthe inertiadisk provided with links connected to the short arms of theweight-arms, substantially as and for the purposes specified.

3. In a steam-engine governor of the character described, thecombination, with the weight-arms and the inertia-disk,of the springs lconnected to the weight-arms and to pins on lthe disk, whereby the saidsprings act constantly at right angles to the arms, substantiall y asand for the purposes specified.

4. The combination, with the shaft A', of the governor-wheel A, securedthereto, the

i weight-arms E, pivoted to the governor-wheel f and provided with shortarms e', the loose eccentric C, connected to the weight-arms by links D,the loose inertia-wheel B, connected to the short arms e by links F, andsprings connected toA the weight-arms to draw them toward the center,substantially as and for .the purposes specified.

EDWIN F. WILLIAMS. Vitnesses:

IRVINE MILLER, W. C. CoRLIEs.

ICO

